there is only one way to make stocks go up - demand must exceed supply.

who cares WHY demand exceeds supply, or WHOse demand it is (if u are a trader). the point is to recognize supply/demand inbalance and capitalize on the moves. if peeps are buying and pushing it up. it goes up. that is not "manipulation".

its only manipulation when u miss the move, or get caught on the wrong side

what matters is that you buy lower and sell higher. Whomever ramps it up is irrelevant vs. the fact that it did, and that you capitalized on it (for a trader)

if you want to know HOW people are positioned, COT reports provide an answer of course

Think about it. Fund managers literally have to get rid of billions of shares. If you had to sell that many shares you would have to sell a little, wait for a pullback, and repeat. They all know they are in the same position. They all know they can't sell at one time and cause a panic. It is in their best interest to hold up the market as long as they can until more retail investors get involved.

This game is all about futures and program trading, when bigger players jump in to move the futures, programs get triggered and then stocks must follow. Us retail traders have no choice but to anticpate their next move and front run them, ride on their coatails and chase the move, or step aside. With enough money and collaboration, any market can be moved short term.

there is only one way to make stocks go up - demand must exceed supply.

who cares WHY demand exceeds supply, or WHOse demand it is (if u are a trader). the point is to recognize supply/demand inbalance and capitalize on the moves. if peeps are buying and pushing it up. it goes up. that is not "manipulation".

its only manipulation when u miss the move, or get caught on the wrong side

what matters is that you buy lower and sell higher. Whomever ramps it up is irrelevant vs. the fact that it did, and that you capitalized on it (for a trader)

if you want to know HOW people are positioned, COT reports provide an answer of course

they claim "manipulation" when they miss the move, or get stopped out... or worse when they are short and hope and pray for a reversal as their position moves against them

i hear this all the time and it usually comes from losing traders. winning traders do not talk about "manipulation".

the index futures are a PURE proxy for supply/demand.

that's what i like about them. a single MM in a thin issue CAN move it around a lot, but it takes HEAVY buying pressure to move the DOW for pete's sake. we are talking many billions of dollars market capitalization

if demand is not exceeding supply, the market CANNOT go up

if you don't understand how supply/demand and a 2 way auction process works, you shouldn't be trading